2 more arrested in Kushinagar mosque blast case

Two more people were held in connection with the Kushinagar mosque blast case on Friday, taking the total number of arrests to six, a senior official said.

Earlier in the day, four other accused were sent to police remand for 48 hours.

A man identified as Haji Qutubuddin, who is associated with the mosque and was injured in the blast, was interrogated, Inspector General, Gorakhpur zone, Jai Narayan Singh said said.

Qutubuddin's grandson-- Ashfaq, who works in the army and was posted in Hyderabad too was called for questioning, he added.

Both of them have been arrested.

"Six persons including Qutubuddin and his grandson Ashfaq have been arrested in the case. No terror link has been found so far. We are probing the matter," Inspector General, Law and Order, Praveen Kumar said in Lucknow.

Earlier in the day, the other four accused-- Maulana Azimuddin, Izhar, Ashiq Ansari and Javed Ansari were sent to police remand following their arrest on Tuesday, a day after the blast rocked the mosque in Bairagi Patti village in Turkpatti of Kushinagar district on Monday.

"The four arrested persons have been sent to police remand for 48 hours starting Friday morning. Haji Qutubuddin and his grandson Ashfaq were cross examined. Agencies like IB, ATS, special intelligence are interrogating them and it is not known yet whether they have links with terrorists or not," Singh said.

Another accused identified as Salauddin Ansari aka Munna of Turkpatti area is still at large, police said.

Earlier, the cleric of the mosque-- Azimuddin, a resident of West Bengal and some other people had told the police that the blast was due to an explosion in inverter battery.

However, the bomb disposal squad and the forensic team from Gorakhpur found explosives in the blast remains.

During interrogation, Azimuddin told police that the explosives had been procured with the help of four persons from Qutubuddin's village.

The seven accused have been booked under relevant sections of the law, the police said.